Together
by rixi
Summary: The end of the world is coming, but this time Buffy can't stop it. She's dead.


Author: rixi  
  
Title: Together  
  
Disclaimer: I own only the warped imagination that creates storied by me.  
  
Distribution/Feedback: rixi_87@hotmail.com  
  
Spoilers: Season 5.  
  
Summary: It's the end of the world, and this time Buffy can't save it: she's dead. Set between the hiatus of 5 & 6.  
  
Dedication: This is for willohand33; reviews are a great source of inspiration ;-). I know you wanted fluff, but this came out instead. Thanks for that. I promise to do fluff eventually.  
  
Willow looked up at the sky, unable to believe that after so many years, they couldn't stop the world from ending.  
  
She watched from the window as balls of fire plummeted down from the sky, smashing great holes into the earth: spreading chaos each time another one crashed into the planet. She rested her forehead against the pane of glass, letting her tears fall freely as she watched the people dumb enough to go onto the streets, fight out of fear.  
  
The panic on their faces was clear, even though the redhead was more than two stories up. Everything from the past few months kept her tears from stopping.  
  
She remembered losing Tara, seeing Glory take her lovers' mind right in front of her. She remembered not being able to find her, unless the consequences were dire. Which brought a new wave of tears to spring from her eyes.  
  
Buffy had died to save them; to save this world, and now they were failing to make her death meaningful. She suddenly felt a surge of hatred for the people she had spent five years of life trying to save. . She didn't understand why these people had done what they did.  
  
When Willow was younger, she had been interested in every scientific discovery; every advancement that had been made. Now she despised anything that scientists did to "enhance" the world. If it hadn't been for them, she wouldn't be standing here, at her lover's window, watching the world wait for that final fire-rock to destroy it.  
  
Willow felt a pair of soft hands glide round her stomach, and a chin gently drop onto her shoulder.  
  
"Hey," Tara spoke softly, as she always did, making Willow smile for the first time in an hour. "I couldn't find it. Sorry."  
  
The redhead slowly turned round in Tara's arms, leaning back against them. Smiling softly as her gaze travelled from the blondes rose-red lips to her crystal-blue eyes, she said, "It doesn't matter," She took a precious three seconds to glance at the window, "Not much does now." She looked back at Tara in time to catch a soft kiss from her love.  
  
There wasn't anything about passion in the kiss. They hadn't talked about what they were going to do, none of them had, but it was like a silent agreement. She was pretty sure Xander and Anya weren't even going to make love tonight.  
  
She remembered talking to Xander about what they would do if the world were going to end before they'd even met Buffy. A smile tugged at her lips as she remembered him saying that he'd spend it with her. Either that, he'd said, or have crazy rampant sex.  
  
Tara smiled as she saw Willow's face break into a grin. "What are you smiling about?"  
  
Willow raised an eyebrow as she was pulled from her memories; she smiled lovingly at Tara and rested her forehead against the blondes. "Just my life."  
  
"You know," Tara started as the began to sway to an unheard melody, "Everything matters. Now more than ever."  
  
Willow wanted to ignore her; she wanted to forget about everything that was happening and just focus on her lover. She knew, however, that Tara was going to keep going, so she thought it best that she have a little input. "Yeah?"  
  
The blonde lifted her head from against Willows and gazed softly into her eyes. "Don't think that knowing you're gonna die means you're ready for it. It just makes these last few moment that more precious."  
  
Willow quirked an eyebrow, "How do you think up stuff like that?" Tara smiled that half-smile that made the redheads knees go weak.  
  
"It comes and goes." She chuckled softly, "Sometimes I can't make sense of what I've said."  
  
"I love you." She said it softly, so softly that Tara nearly didn't hear it. But she did: and she smiled. "I love you too."  
  
Willow smirked, "Well that's good." Their heads were resting together again, and they were quiet for a while. Gently swaying with each other to their unheard song. Willow had closed her eyes whilst Tara had been speaking, just enjoying the sound of her voice and the closeness of her body.  
  
She took a small amount of time to think about her life again. She remembered Xander, Anya, Dawn and Giles: even Spike: her family. Her mum and dad too. She even took the time to think about Cordy. Which lead to her thinking about everyone else that had left her life. Angel, Riley, Wesley, Jesse and Faith, Buffy; all of them had left her. And she couldn't bring herself to hate Faith anymore: not after everything.  
  
She thought of Oz. She wondered what he was doing now, where he was, what had happened to him. He didn't even know Buffy was dead, and she suddenly wished he had stayed. They could have remained friends, Oz was a nice guy, and he would have found someone else here. She longed for his stoicism and his ability to play down every situation. Xander was good at short-term tension breakers, but he didn't have Oz's ways. No one did. But Tara did the job in her own way.  
  
She hadn't realised that her tears had started again as she thought of her friends. Only when she felt Tara's soft lips kiss them away did she recognise the wetness on her face as tears. She felt Tara's nose rub against hers as she opened her eyes.  
  
She saw Tara smile at her, "It's gonna be alright, sweetie. I promise." Tara's eyes told her she was being honest. She knew Tara would try her hardest to make everything be ok; it was just a shame she couldn't actually do it.  
  
Tara's hand dropped from Willow's body, and the redhead moved to put them back. She was too slow, and Tara had moved over to sit on the bed. The blonde looked up at her, her eyes soft and understanding. "He's still alive."  
  
Her brow flickered in and out of frown, as she contemplated whether Tara knew what she had been thinking or not.  
  
The blonde sensed this, "Oz is fine. He's in South America, somewhere." There was nothing bitter about her tone; if Willow had been taking any notice of how she had said it, she would've realised there was a fairly warm feeling to her voice when she spoke of him.  
  
Willow was in a state of shock. How could Tara know where he was; and how did she know that Willow had been thinking about him? Her mouth was slightly open, and Tara quirked an eyebrow at her lover as she stood there gawking at her.  
  
"That look isn't good for you, you know." Her tone was playful now, and it snapped Willow from her thoughts. She smiled to let Tara know she was still there, but it was a fleeting one, and it had completely disappeared when she curled up on the bed next to Tara; placing her head on her lap.  
  
She allowed her eyes to close as Tara smoothed her hair. There was so much she wanted to say, and to do before their world became extinct. There was just so little time left.  
  
It was the perfect moment: their perfect moment. And it was how Willow wanted to leave, but there was a tiny thought nagging at her brain. Even though she knew it would ruin this moment, she had to know.  
  
"How did you know where Oz was?" It was quiet. She was secretly hoping that Tara wouldn't hear her, but she just had to know that she'd said it before the end. She knew that Tara would hear her though, she knew Tara listened to every movement and every breath that she took  
  
After a few moments of silence, Willow opened a lid to take a stolen glance at her lover. It wasn't so stolen though: Tara was looking at her, an unreadable expression on her face.  
  
"Don't get mad at me." She didn't allow Willow to add anything, she didn't want her to make any promised she couldn't keep. "But after he left, he wrote me a letter apologising for 'losing his cool'." She gave Willow a shy smile, that conveyed everything - her fear, her love, and her soul. "I just thought it would be polite to write back."  
  
A million things went through her mind and her heart as it actually registered that her first love was in correspondence with her true love; her final love. The main thing; was hurt. That the two people who held her heart more than anyone else would keep something like this from her. A rational part of her knew that it wasn't that big of a deal, that Tara had a friend that she didn't know of. It just relayed from that dream she had had when she and Tara had become an official couple. The pain she had felt when she'd dreamt that Oz and Tara were, flirty together. It was indescribable.  
  
She wanted to let it go; she really did but she had to have more of an explanation that 'it would be polite'. "So, you have been keeping this whole part of your life from me; like you did with your family." It was a cheap shot, and she instantly regretted it when Tara jolted away from her.  
  
She shot up and reached from her, feeling even worse when Tara pulled away from her touch. "I, Tara I'm sorry." She reached for her again, gouging the same reaction from Tara.  
  
"You said that you understood why I did that." Tara wouldn't look at her and it killed. "You know why I did that. All I was trying to do was make you feel better." She stood and walked away from Willow, only looking back at her as she leant against the door.  
  
They remained in silence, just staring at each other - each with their own pain in their eyes.  
  
When Tara slid down the door and closed her eyes, Willow silently made her way over to the blonde, and crouched in front of her: placing her hands gently on Tara's knees. The blonde opened her eyes and gazed into Willows. Imploring her to understand.  
  
She did, "I don't want to fight with you over something so stupid." She smiled at Tara, and gently brushed the back of her hand against Tara's face; a feeling of extreme ecstasy wrapped around her being when Tara didn't pull away, put leant into the touch. "I was stupid. I know you don't wanna hurt me, and I'm glad you and Oz are friends."  
  
Tara smiled back at her lover. Gazing into the green eyes that told the world exactly what she felt, she almost forgot about everything except the love she felt for the woman in front of her. "You're not stupid. You had every right to feel upset, and I should've told you."  
  
Willow silenced Tara by placing two fingers on her lips, and then leant into kiss. "And I shouldn't of made that dig." She rubbed Tara's arms, "I know why you kept those things from me. And believe me, they were perfectly good reasons. I just wish we hadn't done this now, when we don't have a lot of time left together." Tara finally let a tear slip down her cheek, and she reached for Willow's face and pulled her in for a long and passionate kiss.  
  
"I love you. I always will, you know that right?"  
  
Willow couldn't help the goofy grin that spread over her face, "I know. And I love you too. More than anything."  
  
Tara was a little frantic. All her feelings inside needed to be expressed but there weren't enough words in the world. She gently squeezed Willows face and smiled despite the tears rolling down her face. "I'll always love you Willow. You're in my heart for the rest of eternity."  
  
She gripped a little harder on Willow's cheeks, and the redhead found that the roles had just reversed. Tara was now imploring her to make everything all right: to make it all go away.  
  
"Tell me, tell me there's a heaven Willow. Tell me we're never going to be separated?"  
  
She looked so much like a child at that moment that Willow felt her heartbreak and she grabbed a hold of Tara and hugged her fiercely. "Of course we're not; not ever. We're going to be together forever. Heaven and earth couldn't separate us. Ever."  
  
They continued to hold each other, whispering sweet-nothings and false assurances. And together they perished, and together, hand in hand, they walked away from the world. Together. 


End file.
